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EXPERTS AGREE CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY MAKES SOUND BUSINESS SENSE

Washington, D.C. Corporate social responsibility is inherent to an individual’s responsibility as a citizen, but also makes sound business sense since those businesses that fail to pay attention to the social and environmental realities of their consumers run the risk of becoming irrelevant. That seemed to be the consensus among a panel of experts during the XVII Policy Round Table of the Organization of American States that took place yesterday in OAS headquarters.

Titled, “Corporate Social Responsibility in a Time of Crisis” and organized by the Department of International Affairs of the OAS, the event was moderated by Italo Pizzolante, an expert in strategic communications with a distinguished career as an author, consultant and lecturer on subjects like corporate identity, image engineering and corporate responsibility.

During the event it was also emphasized that respect for the law, payment of taxes, sustainable development, social and economic development of local communities and local hiring are some of the foundations on which corporate social responsibility may be built in the Americas.

Albert Ramdin, Assistant Secretary General of the OAS, gave welcoming remarks and called the subject of corporate social responsibility of great importance to the Western Hemisphere, referring also to two decisions taken by the OAS to promote corporate social responsibility at the highest political levels: one, during the Summit of the Americas in 2001 when it recognized the central role that businesses of all sizes play in creating prosperity in the hemisphere; and two, this year, when the General Assembly of the OAS urged governments to promote corporate social responsibility.

Through the promotion of an informed dialogue, the OAS Policy Round Table seeks to bring together the best in political thought to the actions of the OAS in its Permanent Council and General Secretariat, highlighting issues of concern in the inter-American agenda on development, security, human rights and democracy. On this occasion, the speakers were Andrés Peñate, Director of Sustainable Development for Grupo Bavaria, S.A.; Rodrigo Jiménez, Vice President of Corporative Affairs for Barrick South America; and José Miguel Torrebiarte, Vice President of Grupo Progreso, a company dedicated mainly to the cement industry and the promotion of construction materials in Central America.

“Capitalism is being challenged in our region,” said Peñate, of Colombia, citing a survey in which half of Colombian people said capitalism was not the best system for acquiring and distributing wealth, but rather socialism. “But what if we present them with a more developed and less savage capitalism?” he asked.

Corporate social responsibility, which isn’t philanthropy but an analysis of a company’s external impacts to reduce or eliminate social and environmental harm and contribute to a common wellbeing, may be conducive to a better form of capitalism for countries in the Americas, the experts suggested.

The event was planned jointly with the Secretariat for Integral Development in the framework of the Promotion of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Program. The Round Table concluded with a question-and-answer session during which the public interacted with the speakers.

Reference: E-277/09